Swine Flu is getting a lot of media coverage and people in the hospitality and tourism industry should be taking precautions and making plan to deal with the impact. Unfortunately one of the biggest challenges is dealing with the mis-information and opinions that seem to abound.

As one columnist put it “We need to be like ducks on the pond - floating calmly on the surface but paddling fast underwater. Keeping our smiles on and urgently thinking through the implications.”

At this point medical community is telling us that ‘Swine influenza viruses are not spread by food. You cannot get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe’ and that ‘there is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu - take the recommended everyday steps to protect your health (e.g. wash your hands properly and thoroughly, if you get sick with the flu, stay at home and avoid contact with others as much as possible)

It would be prudent to develop contingency plans in case customer numbers drop suddenly or they start rejecting pork dishes or you have a large number of staff stay at home. Do you the information you need to reassure customers that everything is OK? It is also a good time to review your Food Safety Policies and ensure that they are effective.

Managing customer and public relations will take time and energy – what strategies and tactics do you have in place to deal with the impact of the swine flu on the H & T industry?